Relay device



, c. c. WHITIAKER.

RELAY DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I9l 191?.

Patented sept. 28,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES ATORNEY C. C. WHITTAKER.

RELAY DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I9. 1911 Patentedsept. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Hg. e

WITNESSES @Qa/M ATTRNEY pplica'tion fle Time 19,

To all fz'vlom i may conocen:

'L i 1 nl T .ne is .movin han :.5

ucr., ci Zen of the United .esiflen-'a )i Y'v"alii/lilnsour in tie co .ny of Allegheny ano Stale ol Penne Ylrania, have 1 irenel a new irl useful L iprovenie it 1n f levioes, oi Wlilcli olie ollownig is a 'on relates to con'zrol apparatrs o dierenially-acing relay -oid or movable-core type. oi my invenion is to provide I "..ic relay clevice embodying a .ore and. fluid means in the s ary. for ezianiple, 'for alone sup iei I y oscillaions there complee y clamped out relay, which sliglii differroviflecl.

i l y stained, v1l` is the oogeeb of tio i omprisii a noi'a n o o oyicle a relay le ice I .I le niag'netizable core inemler, a plura iy )i act rating coils for tual;- ingg tlie core in die one or the other direction l f for so supporting the an i a l wily oi inercnry` core in iits normaiposiiiion that r fnay be "quielqly acguaceil in 1er (lireoion.

as compacness oi stra-@iure and relatively small size of parts.. will be eif'iclent from lie following detailed descripion. i

lily invention may liesi'"J lie understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is z View, partially in front olevalion and parially in longitudinal secioin of a. relay (lerice consruced in accordwitli my present invention; Q is a rien', in side elcf'ation, oi' the apparatus slion'n in l; i 3 ancl Fig. are enl rajfinen ary 'views illustrating cer- ;nollii'ieations oi a portion of 'alle relayniovable member; F 5 is a View sini l; g o Fig. l, o? a inolliieil Jforni o' my relay flevice; and Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic en' or a eonrol sys'em employing the r @their minor objects or iny invention, such 'rerring io Fig. l and Fig. 2 oi the lai7 levice for a purpose to beset Aforth.

nojs, the appa atus shown comprises a or monniing slab l of any suitable in- I i'ia'erial near the upper enel of pa-Qiione a pluraliy of upper i' members 2 lower sia- C. THIGL Serial "fio,

member for the purpose of acnan. the or other direcion. as

li, in clefail.

quently sel; ioni The movable Contact rigidly posiior'ed, by' mel lars or nuls l0, n ll, elle einer elthe upper enrl o proper. l pin or into the lower end. oilli purpose that is heren scribed.. Y

Loosely nrronniling anc yonil lie ends ol lle core Q 'nube i3, xyiiliin the lower second jznbe ll may loe sign posici@ ln insl'xlai'in plnlg` l5 of balreli'e or o suiable inacerial haring ya ce g recess liac inl-.le pin 1:2., is t f driven into lie im: of che tube 13, alnitig againstlie c and a orass ferrule or other suial'le c ing member 1T wedged around l e l' end of lie main tube, for the p1 l preventing any leakage olf merci r;

:lie magneti l2 is threaded the tube' when elle relay device occupies normal noilgnt position.

Another plug' 1S lili? within, and over' llt-e upper elige of. llo ful-oe i3, and a si member 1S cer al, al: ino a i aperture ox v uownwaifllv aan p1 'the core rod. ll. i` e Secured lo olie acl enr oorlmri QT i il.

cli:

ni aroi Suitable contact clips or terminal members 24 are provided for the coils 7 and S to permit ready connection thereof tothe desired external circuits, as traced in connection with Fig. 6.

For the purpose of suitably*supporting the relay device as a whole and tor also providintl a rigid assembly ot parts, a lower bracket member 25 is secured to the base 1 by means ot bolts 2G, and the lower end of the tube 13, with the inclosed plug 15 is suitably positioned in the bracket member. An upper bracket member 27 incloses the tube 13 intermediate the plug 18 and the upper end or' the.actuating'oil T and is secured to the base 1 by a plurality or' bolts 28.

The operation of my improved relay device may be briefly stated as follows: In the illustrated normal position wherein the movable contact disk el occupies an open position intermediatefthe sets of stationary contact members 2 and 3, the entire weight ot' the magnetizable core member and the movable Contact disk is supported by the body oi mercury alone. By reason ot the differential action of the coils 7 and S, to be more fully set-forth in connection with Fig. 6, the predominant coil effects an actuation of the magnctizable core 6 upwardly or downf'ardly, as the case may be, to produce electrical engagement of the movable contact disk 4 with the upper stationary contact members 2 or the lower stationary contact members 3, respectively.

By reason of the flotation of the magnetizable core in mercury or other tluid ot relatively greater density than the core, small oscillations caused by the inertia ol the core or its tendency to overshootthc desired position are almostentirely eliminated or damped out. On the other hand, the buoyant torce exerted by the body ot mercury serves to permit movement of the core member in the one or the other direction upon relativel7 Slight difference in the torces exerted by the coils 7 and 8. ln briet, a relay device that 'is very sensitive to 'changes ot' voltage or other predetermined operating conditions,without being subject to undesirable oscillations or movements, is provided.

rlhe function of the upper plug 1S and ot the sleeve 19, in addition to the guidance feature thereof. is the prevention ot leakage of the mercury from the upper end ol the, tube 13, in case the device is located on its side or held upside-down. v'l`hisnon-leaking any leakage. On the other hand, if the relay device is rapidly inverted, by reason of the tact that the diameter et' the core proper (i is materially greater than that of the sleeve 19, the end ot the core member acts like an umbrella and guides the mercury outside of the sleeve 19, so that none of the fluid can possibly gather inside ot the sleeve.

It it is desired to construct a relay of the type just described which will have a tendency tonormally remain in eithe an upper or a lo wer, rather than the illustrated intel'- mediate, position, this result may readily be accomplished by providing a, V-shaped enlarged portion or bead 30 upon the magnetizable core (5, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the dotted line passing-throughthe greater diameter of the. enlarged portion representing the neutral or intermediate position of the top mercury surface. The structure of Fig. 8 tends to keep the plunger on the one or the other side ot' the neutral position, dependent upon which ot the actuating coils 7 or S has last caused actuation of the core.

The inverse' construction, namely, a V- shaped peripheral groove, is illustrated at 31 in Fig. L1, and such proportioning of the parts strongly tends to keep the core member or plunger in the neutral or intermediate position ot the mercury, represented by the dotted line. However, by immersing the major part ot the` core member-6, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the desired sensitiveness of action and tendency to remain in the neutral position is also secured, while a substantially cylindrical plunger is used.

-Reference may now be had to Fig. 5, wherein the apparatus illustrated comprises a base or slab 4l), upon the loweil portion of which a plurality ot sets Qt cooperating stationary contact lmembers 11 and 4t2 are suitably mountedtor the purpose ot engaging, under predetermined conditions, a movable contact disk 13 which normally occupies the illustrated open position intermediate thesets ol sationary contact members. The relay device also embodies a movable magnetizable, core or plunger slet with which is suitably associated the actuating coils Tand S and also a dash-pot or oscillation-damping device l5.

rod 50 carrying the, contact disk 43 is threaded, or otherwise secured, to the lower end ot the magnetizablc core proper 44, thev upper end ol` which. is provided with a guiding pin 5l. An extension .3Q ot the rod all below the contact disk L,lil is provided with an enlarged portion or cylimlrical piston 53 which floats iu a body of mercury within the dash-pot device 45,. as subsequently ino1e 4 ber H and is, in turu, inclosed by a second tube '5(3, upon which the-actuating coils T and tl are mounted, an intermediate spacing collar 23 being again provided. A plug pose et' guiding the fr 't. i .uit o sui ao j sipp bracket member roundthe plug,1 a tively.

The oscillationdamping ot which is tightly closed by e 63 which is held in position agency ot screws 2 52 has a sliding lit with a central aperture ot the'plug' 65, whereby leal.; re and evaporation of the mercury, under ordinary conditions, is precluded.

To Jfurther reduce the ain lations of vertical f2. grooves 65, tor example, in the surface of the piste` le ot oscilA e provided By reason et the similarity between the relay device just escribed and that previously forth, no further description ot the operation tir-erect is deemed to be requisite.

Referringn now to (l, the system shown comprises supply-circuit r'onductors Trolley and Ground, a main d chine having an arniaiuie fil and a field winding` Fl et the series type, an auxiliary exciting armature il), a mauri rcuit resistor Rl, a line switch LS, my di erential rela-y device having' the actuating coils T and 8, and an auxiliary system comprisinga battery B or other suitable source or energy, a master controller MC and a plurality of actuating coils respectively marked Up and Down tor govcri'iing any desired tem ot circuit regriilatimi.

inasmuch as the particu svstem ot control with which my relay device utilized is immaterial to the invention, only a briei outline of the various circuits will be necessary to atl'ord a thorough cmnprehension ot' the general functions of the relay device.

rl`he exciting armature T() is shown as provided with an operatingr shaft Tl which may he driven from an auxiliary motor or in any other suitable manner.

When the switch lil is closed, the main circuit is completed from the trolley through the switch LS, main armature fil and maincircuit resistor lll to the negative supplyine exciting circuit conductor Ground circuit is established from one terminal of the auxiliary armature 70, through the resistor R1 and the main held winding Fl to the negative terminal oi the armature 7l).

However, it the line switch li'l occupies its illustrated open position and the master controller MU occupies an operative position, a circuit is established troni the positive terminal o the battery ll throne-h conkirality v of duc-tor T5, control hngers and '77, which ,the relay device is actuated by the coil `armature l becomes relatively low, me

are bridged by Contact segment of master controller, conductor T9, int il() ot the line switch LS in its open and conductor 8l to one contact me 'l each of the sets ot contact member i l2 ot' my relay device. rl`he circuit is mally .dead-ended at these contact by reason of the normal intermediate tion ot' the movable Contact disk d3.

The uppe' actuating coil T ol the relay device is connected direct-ly across the arma ture Sil, while the lower actuating coil S is connected to the supply-circuit conductors. (ronsequently, while the Vline switch is open, the relay device is actuated in accordance with the differential relation exi ting, at any time, between the armature voltage et main momentuni-driven machine darn coasting period and the supply-circuit Jolt age.

lf the generated voltage of the momentum-driven armature A temporai" dominates Aover the supply- ,ircuit the its upper position, whereupon the moi. contact disk i3 bridges the stationa'" tact members lil, and the hreviousl scribed auxiliary circuit is completed the conductor 8l through the coiipe7 contact members yll and 4Q, conduct actuating coil Down and conductor helto negative battery terminal. rl`hus. a regulatingdevice in the main-ticid-v circuit, for example, may be manipnl..

armature Al until a balance again tween such voltage and the electro-motive force of the supply circuit.

(ln the other hand. it the voltage ot tl 'supply-circuitfexcited actuating coi h tem porarily predominates to more the relay dcvice to its lower position and thereby coniplete an 'auxiliary circuit troni the condlu or Si through cooperatingy contact meinh n2 and ot ther-clay device, conductor H2 and the actuatiiu,r coil lip to the negative conductor S4. Thus, the al)ovclnentioned regulatiner device may be actuated in the opposite direction to effect an increase ot voltage of the main armature A1, and, as soon as equalized conditions obtain, the relay devi e will again assume its illust-rated int-ei ate position. I

It will be appreciated that/the system inst described is merely illustrative ci application of my relay device7 which may be employed tor many other purposes` such,l for example, as the automatic application ot sand to vehicle rails when one motor of a locomotive slipsf which produces diticrence ot voltage between that motor and the others on the vehicle.

herein set Iorth, as various modifications thereof may be effected without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention. I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall. be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my'invention:

l. A relay device comprising a movable magnetizable core member, two windings for actuating the core member in opposite directions and a. body of mercury for so supportingathe core member thatit may be acted upon with equal promptness by both winfflings.

2. A relay device comprising a body of fluid of relatively great density, a magnetizable movable member supported therein, and

a plurality of differentially-acting coils as sociated with different portions of said member.

3. A relay device comprising a movable magnetizable core member, differentiallyacting coils associated with different portions of said member for actuating it in the one or the other direction, and fluid means surrounding thecore member for freely supporting said member to dampen oscillations thereof.

4L. A relay device comprising a movable magnetizable core member, differentiallyacting coils associated with different portions of said member for actuating xit in the one or the other direction, and a body .of

'mercuryor alone supporting said member.

one or the other direction, a hollow member surrounding said core member, and a body of liquid ot relatively great densitycontained in said hollow member to float said core member.

7. A rela device com )ri'sinV a movable,

Y l e mercury contained in said tube to supportl said core member.

9. A relay device comprising a movable core member, differentially-acting coils inclosing the respective ends of said member for actuating it in the one or the other direct-ion, a tube loosely surrounding said core member, a body of mercury contained in said tube to support said core member, and means for preventing leakage of mercury from either end of said tube.

10. relay device comprising a movable core member, differentially-acting coils inclosing the respective ends of said member for actuating it in the one or the other direction, a tube loosely surrounding said core member, a body of ,mercury contained in said tube to float said core member, a plug for the lower end of said tube having a recess for guiding the core member, a plug for dthe upperend ot the tube having a guiding aperture fr vthe core member, and a contact member secured to the upper end oi' the core member.

In Vtestimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st day of May,

CHARLES C. TWHITIAKER. 

